Surgery on beating heart thanks to robotic helping hand

"If you've been waiting for the day to arrive when computers actually start performing surgery, that moment might soon be upon us. A French team has developed a computerized 3D model that allows surgeons to use robotics to operate on a beating heart, according to a report in The International Journal of Robotics Research, published by SAGE. The robotic technology predicts the movement of the heart as it beats, enabling the surgical tools to move in concert with each beat. It means that the surgeon can perform a procedure as if the heart was stationary. This development could be very important for millions of patients who require less invasive surgical heart procedures, where stopping the heart from beating would cause unnecessary risk. Rogério Richa, Philippe Poignet and Chao Liu from France's Montpellier Laboratory of Informatics, Robotics, and Microelectronics developed a three-dimensional computerized model that tracks the motion of the heart's surface as it beats. In addition to the heart, this model also accounts for the movement of a patient's chest wall during breathing. Known as the "thin-plate spline deformable model", this new computerized approach allows the robotic arm to continually adjust to heart and chest movements during surgery" - EurekAlert

Exercise improves outcomes for heart failure patients

"Regular exercise is safe for heart failure patients and may slightly lower their risk of death or hospitalization, according to results from the largest and most comprehensive clinical trial to examine the effects of exercise in chronic heart failure patients. Supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, the study also found that heart failure patients who add regular, moderate physical activity to standard medical therapy report a higher quality of life compared to similar patients who receive medical therapy only. Researchers with HF-ACTION (Heart Failure – A Controlled Trial Investigating Outcomes of exercise TraiNing) have published two papers in the April 8, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study was conducted at 82 centers in the United States, Canada, and France."

High blood pressure climbs in winter

"Falling temperatures in winter may cause an unhealthy rise in high blood pressure in elderly people, according to a new study linking cooler temperatures with higher blood pressure. Seasonal variations in blood pressure have been noted for years, but few studies have looked at these temperature-related effects in one of the most at-risk populations: the elderly. Now a large study from France has shown that blood pressure in elderly people varies significantly with the seasons, with rates of high blood pressure readings rising from 23.8% in summer to 33.4% in winter. Blood pressure increases were seen in both the systolic (top) and diastolic (bottom) numbers. "Elderly persons may be particularly susceptible to temperature-related variations in blood pressure," researcher Annick Alperovitch, MD, of the Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, in Paris, and colleagues write in the Archives of Internal Medicine. "Mechanisms that could explain the association between blood pressure and temperature remain undetermined." - WebMD

Novel drug to treat angina and other cardiac pathologies

"A compound, designed to prevent chest pains in heart patients, could act as a drug to treat angina and possibly other cardiac pathologies, according to a study on animals. Researchers from the Centre de Recherche Pierre Fabre in France have shown that the novel compound F15845 has anti-angina activity and can protect heart cells from damage without the unwanted side effects often experienced with other drugs." - Medindia

EUROECHO 2008

EUROECHO 2008 is the twelfth Annual Meeting of the European Association of Echocardiography, a Registered Branch of the ESC, organised in cooperation with the Working Group on Echocardiography of the French Society of Cardiology - 10-13 December 2008 -Lyon, France

Exercise OK for some heart patients

"A study found exercise is not too risky for some heart failure patients, U.S. researchers said. 'The most important thing we found from this study is that exercise is safe for patients with heart failure, and when adjustments were made for specific baseline characteristics, it significantly improved clinical outcomes,' Dr. Christopher O'Connor and Dr. David Whellan of Thomas Jefferson University said in a statement. Working out on a stationary bicycle or walking on a treadmill just 25 to 30 minutes most days of the week is enough to modestly lower risk of hospitalization or death for patients with heart failure, the researchers said. The study involved 2,331 patients at 82 study sites throughout the United States, Canada and France. Patients were randomized into a group that received usual care or to a group that received usual care plus an exercise training program that began under supervision but then transitioned to home-based, self-monitored workouts. The study found exercise led to a significant 11 percent reduction in risk of hospitalization or death for those in the exercise group. The findings were reported at the American Heart Association's scientific sessions in New Orleans" - UPI